With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

2nd January 2005
09:56 GMT -6

I glance over to the partially-concealed table where the Guys are having a muttered heart to heart. I actually know what the point of divergence was in their lives, more or less. Guy 16 once told me that he got straightened out by his brother… Before he knew about Mace's criminal sideline. From what I could tell, Guy 50 never had that conversation. Mace Gardner died a year or so early. The nearest Guy 50 had to something like that was joining up with an anti-Lords group while in prison.

Which explains why he's as aggrieved about the whole thing as he is. The military is what he latched onto after the Lords were taken down, and it gave his life structure and meaning. Now, they've kicked him out. Or… Maybe not, I suppose.

I frown at Kara. "So, if he's been released with charges rescinded, does he just show up back at his regiment, or is there some sort of process..?"

At this time of the morning we've got the hotel bar more or less to ourselves. The Guys got a couple of bottles of what appears to be the cheapest beer in the place. No idea why. Kara's got an orange juice while I was mildly pleased to find that they stock Shloer. I suppose the fact that Kansas was a dry state until 1948 might go some way to explaining that, but I've never encountered it outside of England.

"I.. imagine that they'll write him when someone up the chain of command has decided how they want to play it."

I nod and take a sip. There are actually a lot more grape-flavoured things in the United States than I remember there being in Britain. In artificially coloured food, purple means 'grape' here rather than 'black currant' like it did back home.

"How's Scott adapting to the ship?"

"Actually, they decided it would be better if Barda captained it." I nod. Makes sense. I'm not totally sure what Barda's domain is, but it's certainly more associated with violence than Scott's. "Did you know it was called the Absolute Dominion?"

"No, though that does sound like a name I'd give a ship." A big ship, anyway. It would be a bit farcical for a destroyer. "Does it have better crew quarters than the thanagarian ship you were using?"

She shakes her head. "The extra boom tubes are.. convenient, but I'm not going to live there."

"Why not?"

"Because I have a job. I'm a senior SHADE agent, and the agency is still trying to justify its existence. I need to stay visible on Earth."

"What's so great about SHADE?"

"They offer training in how to use super powers and how the law works. And if you're planning on bringing up the children-"

"It did cross my mind."

"-that was the army, and then Father Time personally. Most of SHADE had nothing to do with that. It's.. just a federal law enforcement agency that's responsible for overseeing people with super powers."

"Oh? We're setting something like that up in my parallel." I smile, leaning slightly closer. "We should compare notes."

She peers uncertainly at me. "Are you..? Look, are you actually interested in me, or are you just trying to wind me up again?"

"My admiration for you is entirely unfeigned. You possess all of the characteristics I find most attractive." Ah… "Well, the size difference could be a slight problem, but that aside I very much like what I see and hear."

"A-?" She looks away, blinking heavily and shaking her head. "I can't believe I'm having this conversation."

"Why is it such a surprise? The first time we met I asked you to marry me."

She shakes her head more vehemently, then frowns, looking at me. "Wait, I thought you said that was role-play?"

"A bit yes, a bit no. I enjoy being bombastic and assertive. I like being direct about what I want. Yes, I set myself up as a foe dishonestly, but I really enjoyed the chance to ham it up like that. I was having great fun right up until the nuke went off."

"It took Marvel two weeks before he could taste anything other than that.. spray!"

"And I'm sure that he's now learned to take precautions against scent weapons. He fought much better this time."

"Did Flash even really-." She cuts herself off, eyes widening. "Oh God. That was you."

"Well,-."

"I saw you speeding up when we fought. I thought that maybe you were using Sinestro's ring or you were just that fast. You have some way of giving people super speed, and you pretended it was from Flash."

"And what do you think my motive was?"

"Because you thought it would be fun to abuse her trust? To mock-" I shake my head. "-Flash's memory?"

"Neither John nor Shayera would have tolerated that. We thought that you needed a Flash."

"But why Eliza?"

"She seemed to fit the character profile required. Of course, we couldn't vet everyone… But I think we made a good choice. Does she know?"

"No."

"Are you going to tell her?"

Kara fidgets awkwardly. "I.. don't think so. I couldn't do that to her."

"I think that's the right choice, but I hope that having made it you'll be a little more understanding of Richard and myself."

"Oh no. This is not the same as what you did."

She's staring at me, the determination written clear on her face-.

"Are you getting turned on by this?"

"No, not.. turned on. It isn't sexual. But I do like the fact that you're confronting me like this. I respect the fact that you have clear moral beliefs. You know…" I lean a little closer. "I'm pretty sure that given enough time you could moderate my worse behavioural tendencies. If you were willing to put in the effort."

"What makes you think I'm single?"

"The fact that you haven't brought that up before. But if you tell me otherwise I'm happy to back off."

"And what about you? Too busy conquering the world?"

"I had an.. unfortunate misunderstanding which ended my last serious relationship. We're.. on reasonable terms now, but the relationship is very much over. The last woman I dated rather lost interest when… Well, she'd internalised her enemy's epistemology and might-makes-right ideals, When she realised that I wasn't interested in brute force conquest or unquestioningly supporting her political ambitions her ardour dimmed somewhat. I have female friends, employees, students… But I'm not dating any of them. And… Frankly, if I have to personally oversee every part of a campaign of conquest then I'm doing it wrong."

"What about your kids?"

"I.. wouldn't expect you to take on a maternal role you weren't prepared for. But I hope that if things go well, you'll come to consider them part of your family just as I do."

She looks away. "I can't believe that I'm even considering this."

"You'd be surprised how often I hear that."

"No I wouldn't."

"Oh, I think you would. Where would you like to go for our second date?"